Pavilion ze4400 overheating and shutting down

only after ripping cd or downloading albums from itunes, it can download and install any software off the net without any problems, help?

 

First of all tell us its full specs, and download CoreTemp to check the CPU temperatures.

 

The core temp load shows 1 to 3 % when nothing is going on but while ripping a cd it immediately skyrockets to between 85 and 100 % and then after 4 songs or so are ripped it goes between 95 and 100 % then shuts down.

The unit's specs are 448RAM 30GB HDD and Mobile AMD Athlon[tm] 4 2400+ 1.05ghz

So what's the actual speed of this unit please? Is it only 1ghz or 2.4ghz? Online specs show 2.0ghz?

 

It's a two gig i think. 1GHz is probably the low-power state. AMD CPUs are rated by a "performance rating" which does not indicate their actual operating frequency, but rather another meaningless number in the thought that bigger is better.

Hmm. Does CoreTemp not show temperatures for your CPU? Try Everest instead. The trial will suffice, go to Computer -> Sensor and you'll have all temperatures listed there. Anyway, just ripping a CD shouldn't cause 100% CPU load, i think there is something wrong with your CD drive. Do you run Windows XP? But we'll get to that later, first tell me the CPU temperatures so we can see what to do to stop it from shutting down.

 

According to Everest cpu monitor, it is not constant, with the laptop being idle the reading is fluctuating between 1-100%

 

I am trying to repair this for a friend of mine, he's had it for a while I guess but if it's dust build up or venting issue then shouldn't the unit be hot while in idle mode?

 

I mean the temperatures not the CPU usage.

 

The CPU Temperature shows 67degrees C [156 degrees F] in idle mode

 

That's a bit high. Try running the System Stress Test in Everest and watch the temperature. If it shuts down in that too, you found your issue.

Anyway, blow a can of compressed air in the laptop's vents. By the way, does the laptop's body feel hot?

 

It shut down while running the stress test, the entire area under the keyboard was super hot, what does this mean please? Was it the cpu that's overheating or the HDD or something else on the mobo?

 

Good so it got hot, then the heatsink is seated properly. Did the laptop make any noise during the test? My guess is that its fan is either clogged full of dust or has failed entirely. Try blowing a can of compressed air inside the laptop's vents, if you see a lot of dust coming out then the reason is obvious.

Side note: I got my DV9700 for $300 because the guy who sold it to me said it had overheating problems. It turns out that the fan cable had unplugged from the mobo... Thus i got a perfectly working laptop. You may want to leave that as the last check though, because to get to the fan you'll have to take EVERYTHING apart.

 

I sprayed the vents from all 3 sides, nothing much there and the fan is working, when i ran the first stress test, I selected the HDD too, now I ran a test only for the cpu, unit did not shut off but froze and still the same very hot parts under the keyboard area so I don't know what to mkae of this, what exactly is at fault here? Is it the mobo, cpu or something else?

 

I'll ask again - does the fan get loud? Because if the laptop gets hot there's obviously something wrong with the fan.

It's the CPU most likely. Try undervolting it with RMClock, i believe it works for your model. If you can't figure RMClock out i'll help you.

 

Sorry, no noise loud noise from the fan when doing the stress test and I don't know what rmclock is. Id di not see the fan rpm showing in everest though?

 

That's no issue, laptop fans usually don't report rpm. If the fan didn't get noisy chances are it isn't spinning at full speed. I think it needs a new one.

As for rmclock, just google it and you'll find out.

 

Ok, so we know it's the cpu or fan since the fan does not make any noise under the stress test, I read about the rmclock and downloaded it, how do I configure the rmclock please to ease the load on the cpu?

 

Now, the unit is getting hot only after a few minutes and shutting down while being idle, help?

 

The fan has died. It'll need a new fan unit.

 

Man, you sure know your stuff, when I check now, the fan isn't spinning at all. Just tell me please and this will be the end of it, will a new fan assemble do the trick or it is possible that the mobo may be at fault and not powering the fan anymore?

 

Never heard of mobo fan headers dying, so a new fan will do the trick.

 

Understood, thank you very much for all of your help, I have learned a LOT from this thread, hope to run into you again, all the best, Mike.